updated 10:00 pm EDT, Thu April 26, 2012

Samsung Q1 2012 hits new high, but mum on details

Samsung reported a best-ever first quarter profit equal to $5.2 billion on Thursday. The company singled out strong smartphone shipments as the core factor behind the 81 percent jump, both in established models as well as new "high-end strategic models" like the Galaxy Note. It wouldn't reveal shipments, but did say that shipments were higher in all areas, most of all in the developing world.

Unofficial estimates from analysts had Samsung selling 44 million smartphones, nearly half of the 90 million cellphones it had shipped of any kind. The lack of definitive figures made it difficult to compare against its primary rival Apple's 35.1 million iPhones sold during the same quarter.

Other divisions contributed to Samsung's strong sales, including its ability to outgrow the market with healthy sales of LED-backlit TVs in an market that was otherwise shrinking. What drops Samsung faced mostly centered on component businesses like mobile processors and LCD panels, as there was "low seasonal demand" for traditional PC memory and LCDs. There was an exception in demand for "tablet panels," a reference to the new iPad's production more than Samsung's own.

Samsung's overall revenue was strong, equivalent to $40 billion.

The company was optimistic about its ongoing spring. Demand in smartphones, primarily in Korea, Japan, and the US, was expected to go up. PC memory and mobile chips would go up, helped by Samsung's own 32-nanometer production ramp for its Galaxy S III's Exynos 4 Quad processor. The company inadvertently mentioned the Galaxy S III name explicitly during its fiscal results call. [viaReuters]